Gatecrasher Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Hi All, am bit of a novice when it comes to HT so have a question I need some help on. I have a Marantz SR7300 A/V Receiver (not the OSE version) which is about 5 years old... It is 105w per channel and have been told it's underpowering my Jamo D450 speakers. There is a bloke selling a Marantz MM-9000 A/V Multichannel Power Amplifier and was wondering if anyone could explain to me what this actually is and how it works? How does the audio signal get sent from the SR7300 through the MM9000 and then to the speakers? Eg. The audio signal from my DVD player is sent via optical cable to the SR7300, split up into 5.1 inside the amp and then sent to the speakers via the speaker wire. Does this speaker wire instead plug into the MM9000... or is it sent via an RCA or something? In summary, I guess I'm just wanting to know if this will solve my problem of not having enough power? And if I bought the MM9000, I'd assume that'd mean my speakers would be powered by the MM900 @ 150w RMS rather than the SR7300 @ 105w RMS? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatecrasher Posted June 9, 2009 Author Share Posted June 9, 2009 Also whilst I'm thinking of it - how much should I pay for this? It 6 years old however is in excellent condition... $400 - $500 bucks or so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Gimlet Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Hi gatecrasher, welcome to SNA. What you currently own is a receiver, which is a decoder, preamp (volume control/ switch) and amplifier all in one box. It takes a digital signal, decodes it into the different channels, converts it into an analogue signal, amplifies it, and sends it down the wires to the speaker. What you are suggesting is that you use your current receiver to just do the decoding, conversion and volume control - you want your new box to do the amplification and stick it down the wires. See those things at the left of your power amplifier picture? They're where you need to put the signal in. On the back of your receiver, roughly in the middle on your 7300, you will see a block of seven sockets labelled 'preamp outputs'. You would need to connect these with RCA interconenct leads. That said, I would be quite surprised if you are underpowering your speakers from what is quite a substantial receiver. I'm not familiar with it though so perhaps someone else could help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Gday Gatecrasher, The Pre Outs on the Marantz SR7300 should be used with interconnects (RCA plug leads), which will take the low level signal to the multichannel power amp. I cant offer any advice on the MM-9000 Im afraid as I have no experience with. It does have more power according to the specs so would help, but at what cost? The Jamos at 4 ohms would certainly be demanding speakers to drive. Cheers, Jake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ENIGMA Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Hi Gatecrasher, Ok, basically, you plug your dvd player or anything else into your 7300 as usual, nothing changes as before. To add the MM9000 you need 5 pre out channels on the 7300 (FL/C/FR/RL/RR) to plug into the 5 input channels you see on the left hand side of the rear of the MM9000. You then plug your speakers into the MM9000, all that is left is power & that's it. There will be a link connector to link the two (optional), also as you can see next to the inputs on the 9000, there are level adjustments for fine tuning. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norpus Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Hi GC The numbers quoted in multichannel avrs are usually either one or two channels driven only. An avr power supply is usually a weak point So putting a good multichannel amp in the system can assist - it certainly did for me (the Elektra 7 with a 1,8KVA powr supply) However, I always look at the power consumption on the back (or in the specs) and also the weight of the beast If the number for the transformer power looks low, it may be not that much better. I am wary the MM9000 specs only state 400w with 2ch driven at 100wpc. Odd. I would have expected the avr to have maybe a 400VA power supply and the power amp to maybe have 1KVA to meet its THX claims. The 20kg weight is middle of the road, so may be ok Certainly it would be a steal at $500, so if you can get it for that, it would be worth getting My 2c Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatecrasher Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 Thanks everyone for their informative replies - really helped in my understanding. Can't believe I posted this q last night at 10pm and come this morning have my question more than answered - that's gold! Well I checked the SR7300 and it's got the preout RCA sockets as Mr_Gimlet mentioned. But does this mean I'll have an additional cost of buying 5 x $30+ singular RCA cables? I assume the better the RCA the better the sound being sent to the Power Amp. Or will a couple of Belkin pureAV component cables I have lying around, perform the same/good job? Regarding shelf space, what type of breathing space do these things require? I was thinking of having my SR7300 positioned/sitting directly on top of the MM9000. My low-line cabinet has enclosed spaces - with the SR7300 stacked on top of the MM9000 there'd be a 5cm gap above the SR7300, 1cm gap either side, and 4cm at the back. Is this enough breathing space for the MM9000 or does it have to be sitting on it's own? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Thanks everyone for their informative replies - really helped in my understanding. Can't believe I posted this q last night at 10pm and come this morning have my question more than answered - that's gold! FWIW, moving from 105 Watts to 150 Watts with similar topology amplification is pretty much a waste of time. Save your money and buy some REALLY good amplification. At least for the fronts, anyway. IMO. Well I checked the SR7300 and it's got the preout RCA sockets as Mr_Gimlet mentioned. But does this mean I'll have an additional cost of buying 5 x $30+ singular RCA cables? I assume the better the RCA the better the sound being sent to the Power Amp. Or will a couple of Belkin pureAV component cables I have lying around, perform the same/good job? Don't spend too much on cables. The difference (particularly with HT) is not worth it. IMO. Regarding shelf space, what type of breathing space do these things require? I was thinking of having my SR7300 positioned/sitting directly on top of the MM9000. My low-line cabinet has enclosed spaces - with the SR7300 stacked on top of the MM9000 there'd be a 5cm gap above the SR7300, 1cm gap either side, and 4cm at the back. Is this enough breathing space for the MM9000 or does it have to be sitting on it's own? Fortunately the MM9000 is fan cooled. It will happily sit beneath the receiver. Do not place the receiver at the bottom! It requires plenty of ventilation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatecrasher Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 Do not place the receiver at the bottom! lol that thought did actually cross my mind so thanks for the advice! Would have been an expensive exersice if I'd had them round the wrong way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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